Adjuvant Treatment of Intermediate Risk Non-muscle Invasive Bladder Cancer

Despite continuous improvement of diagnosis, surgical and adjuvant treatment procedures for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer (NMIBC), their natural development is still influenced by the high rates of tumor recurrence and progression. The study aims at assessing the value of adjuvant intravesical chemotherapy within the therapeutic protocol for operated intermediate risk non-muscle invasive bladder cancers. We analyzed recurrence and progression rates for patients within two samples: group A included 76 patients with intermediate risk NMIBC treated by transurethral resection (TUR) alone between 1995 and 1999 and group B included 89 patients with the same diagnosis with 8 – 12 Farmorubicin 50 mg intravesical instillations associated with the initial TUR between 2000 and 2004. For group A we recorded a 3 months recurrence rate of 27.6% and a general recurrence rate of 38.1% at one year and 51.3% at three years. The recurrence rate was lower for group B at 3 months (14.6%) as well as significantly lower (p<0.05) at one (23.6%) and three years (34.8%). Most NMIBC recurrences were recorded within one year of follow-up (75%), more than 50% of them being present at the first cystoscopy (3 months). Progression rate was unsignificantly 3% lower for group B, probably due to incomplete pathology data.